Chapter 635

Seeing that the gate of Building 26 was locked from the outside, Xiao Han wondered: Had her honey not yet returned from Jingcheng?

Or was Mr. Li in the neighboring Building 25?

Preoccupied with this question, Xiao Han stood frozen for a long time on the cobblestones of the alley, until Shen Xin came over and broke her train of thought.

She no longer rushed to enter Building 26; instead, she walked silently to a large tree at the alley’s corner, pretending to admire the flowers and grass.

For a moment, she doubted herself: Was this really wise? If he truly was in Yu Shuheng’s home, wasn’t she exposing their relationship to the fire?

Thinking of this, she felt an urge to flee Fudan University, to cover her ears and steal the bell.

But facing Shen Xin and Zhou Shihe, who had just come down, she knew she couldn’t run—otherwise, she’d become a laughingstock.

If she walked away today, she’d lose all confidence in competing with Yu Shuheng and Zhou Shihe later.

Building 25 was locked from the inside, which clearly signaled to everyone: Someone was inside.

As for how many people were inside Building 25, everyone had their own guesses.

Zhou Shihe stood at the entrance of her own small house, glancing alternately at the pretentiously idle Xiao Han and the contemplative Shen Xin outside her daughter’s door; she remained silent, didn’t disturb either, and returned to the second-floor loft to observe everything from above.

She very much wanted to see: How would Li Heng resolve this crisis today?

She very much wanted to see: If Li Heng couldn’t even handle today’s situation, how could he ever hope to keep two women at once? And how could he dare come to her again with talk of “feelings”?

To be honest, though Zhou Shihe appeared calm and serene on the surface, she felt just as bitter as Mai Sui—she simply knew how to hide her emotions and never showed them in public.

After all, this man had held her, kissed her, and confessed his love to her; her own heart had been quietly won over. She wasn’t a saint—when she learned this man might now be sleeping in Yu Shuheng’s bed, an inexplicable ache rose in her chest.

Of course, her reason for concealing her inner turmoil was also pride.

Though Yu Shuheng had always been her most dangerous rival, Zhou Shihe didn’t take “Teacher Yu” seriously, because her own position was still uncertain, and Li Heng’s current emotional chaos wasn’t enough to make her fully commit to winning him.

Though at Jing’an Temple, she had wished: May I alone win one heart.

But that was only a wish, only a fantasy. If Li Heng truly could, as in her wish, let go of all other women and pursue only her with single-minded devotion, then Zhou Shihe would seriously consider the possibility of this relationship—and weigh whether it could ever lead to marriage.

Zhou Shihe was simple and pure in love: she only wanted one unforgettable romance, then marriage and children.

Precisely because she was simple and pure, she avoided Li Heng’s tangled emotions like a plague.

Yet Li Heng was simply too outstanding, too dazzling—a lethal poison radiating ten thousand rays of light, drawing countless women like moths to flame, and leaving Zhou Shihe hesitating on the edge of emotion.

Shen Xin noticed Xiao Han and Zhou Shihe—both were her daughter’s rivals; she glanced at them once, then began knocking: “Shuheng, Shuheng.”

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it carried sharply.

Yu Shuheng, who had just slept after dawn, heard it immediately and opened her eyes.

Li Heng, who had only just fallen asleep after daybreak, reacted a beat slower, slowly waking a few seconds later.

Their eyes met; Li Heng blinked, bewildered: “Is that your mom?”

Before Yu Shuheng could answer, Shen Xin’s voice came again from below: “Shuheng, open the door.”

They were still wrapped in each other’s arms; it was like an 80-km/h green train nearly entering a tunnel—had the gate not been lowered with a net, the sleeping train might have accelerated to 450 km/h.

No wonder he dared go to Changsha to visit Huang Zhaoyi after spending a week in Jingcheng.

Yu Shuheng pulled away from him, took a deep breath to suppress some inner desire, sat up halfway, and teased: “Little brother, are you going to sleep a bit longer, or get up?”

Li Heng mumbled: “Can I hide under the bed?”

Yu Shuheng smiled faintly, studied him with meaning, and began dressing.

Her face was beautiful, her figure elegantly proportioned, radiating intellectual grace; Li Heng, gazing at her side profile, momentarily lost his composure, his right hand involuntarily reaching out.

Yu Shuheng glanced at him, didn’t pull his hand away, but spoke with deep implication: “Shall I lie down again?”

Li Heng said: “Aunt Shen is knocking at the door.”

Yu Shuheng replied: “The door’s locked; she can’t get up anyway.”

When the voice from below reached the bedroom again, the two restless people finally dared not continue, and hurriedly dressed themselves.

After tidying up, they stepped out of the bedroom side by side.

Yu Shuheng headed for the loft.

Li Heng sat on the sofa, picked up the receiver, and pretended to make a call.

This scene was just seen by Zhou Shihe and Mai Sui in Building 27 across the way.

Building 27, loft.

Zhou Shihe turned her head toward Mai Sui, her eyes seeming to say: I knew it—they came out of the same bedroom.

Mai Sui trembled slightly, lowered her head, gripped the railing tightly, letting the spring breeze blow across her face, her mind utterly blank.

Li Heng felt something, and as he lifted the receiver to call his parents in Jingcheng, he suddenly turned toward Building 27—and froze.

He was furious with himself: Why hadn’t he checked the situation across in Building 27 before leaving the bedroom?

He knew he’d been thrown off balance by Aunt Shen’s knocking.

Damn it, the first time I slept with Teacher Yu in Lushan Village, I got caught red-handed—this is just fucking unbelievable!

Yu Shuheng reached the loft and immediately saw Zhou Shihe and Mai Sui, but her expression remained calm.

Perhaps, being seen by Zhou Shihe sharing a room with a young man wasn’t necessarily bad.

Yu Shuheng smiled and nodded at Mai Sui, then took a few more steps to the loft’s edge, where she saw her own mother.

And then she saw Xiao Han.

Seeing her daughter appear, her hair still uncombed, Shen Xin looked up and asked: “Just woke up?”

Yu Shuheng didn’t answer her mother; instead, she locked eyes with Xiao Han across the distance.

After a few seconds, Yu Shuheng turned and walked back into the living room.

At that moment, Li Heng said: “The phone seems broken.”

Yu Shuheng told him: “Xiao Han is downstairs.”

Li Heng froze, the red receiver slipping unnoticed from his hand onto the coffee table.

First Mai Sui, Zhou Shihe, and Shen Xin—now Xiao Han too???

Holy hell, what the fuck is going on?

Yu Shuheng asked: “Do you want to go read in my study?”

Her meaning: Do you want to hide?

Li Heng thought for a moment, sighed, stood up, and walked ahead toward the stairwell.

Yu Shuheng watched his back, then followed shortly after.

Downstairs, through the courtyard, Li Heng pulled open the door latch—and faced Shen Xin directly; he forced a smile and called: “Aunt Shen.”

Shen Xin scanned him, then glanced at her daughter, who had just woken and followed behind; her eyes narrowed slightly, then she smiled brightly: “You’re already sleeping in the same bed—why are you going back to calling me ‘aunt’? Why not just call me ‘Mom’?”

“Sleeping in the same bed”

“Going back to calling”

“Continue calling Mom”

These were all loaded words—words meant to cut to the bone.

Hearing this, Li Heng felt like dying.

Xiao Han clenched her lips, wanting to scream: You shameless bitch—your daughter’s sneaking around with my man, and as an elder, you’re encouraging it!

But she held her tongue; instead, she swallowed her hurt and looked pitifully at Li Heng.

Mai Sui went inside, unable to bear the cruel scene, returning to the living room.

Zhou Shihe remained where she stood, leaning on the railing, calmly watching the four below.

Li Heng’s smile remained, but he didn’t call her “Mom”; instead, he feigned innocence by scratching the back of his head, then pretended embarrassment as he stepped past her and walked straight to Xiao Han.

He said nothing, explained nothing; after locking eyes with Xiao Han for about two seconds, he reached out with his right hand and took her left hand, leading her toward the alley’s mouth.

He didn’t return inside—he walked with his wife along the cobblestones.

Their footsteps echoed rhythmically through the quiet alley, leaving behind three pairs of watching eyes: Shen Xin’s, Yu Shuheng’s, and Zhou Shihe’s.

Xiao Han watched his back, didn’t struggle; her right hand held breakfast, her left hand held in his, she followed like a puppet on strings.

She had so much to say and so many questions to ask—but when he took her hand so openly in front of two rivals and their mother, all her grievances shattered and sank back into her stomach.

She had nothing left to say, nothing left to ask; for the first time, she found this alley strangely pleasant.

Since falling for this man, she’d already prepared herself for “him sleeping with another woman”—after all, his first time was with Chen Zijin’s reckless antics; how could she expect him to settle down so soon?

At the same time, Xiao Han slowly realized: If Li Heng dared to take her away in front of Shen Xin, then he almost certainly hadn’t yet slept with Yu Shuheng—otherwise, he’d be trapped in an impossible situation with her.